


jasmine tea and pai-sho tiles

by sangi



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-10-13
Updated: 2010-10-13
Packaged: 2018-03-13 16:20:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 489
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3388274
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sangi/pseuds/sangi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Iroh is the one who teaches Zuko how to play pai-sho. Ozai never bothered to learn.</p>
            </blockquote>





	jasmine tea and pai-sho tiles

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted in 2010, posted here again for archival purposes.

Iroh is the one who teaches Zuko how to play pai-sho.

Ozai never bothered to learn.

* * *

 

Zuko’s eyes are the same gold as Ozai’s, but you cannot compare the two, Iroh muses. There is a curious innocence in the young prince that had never been present in Ozai.

“Do you think,” the boy asks at the other end of the table, “that father would like to play pai-sho with me sometime?”

Between them lies a pai-sho board scattered with tiles. In the middle are the white and red dragon tiles. They are the same, but different.

“No,” Iroh says slowly. “Your father does not appreciate pai-sho the same way that we do.” 

* * *

“Tea is more than it appears,” Iroh explains to the young boy. His eyes are wide and excited. “It is a form of art.”

He gently pours the water into the teapot; steam rises in heavy swirls. Zuko can barely see over the high table, yet he watches, fascinated.

“What kind of tea is this?” he wants to know. His grasping hand reaches for the cup, but he cannot reach it.

Iroh smiles reminiscently. “This is jasmine tea, Prince Zuko.”

Jasmine tea had been Lu Ten’s favorite.

It would become Zuko’s.

* * *

“Get up,” the old man orders. His voice is not unkind. “Again.”

Zuko’s nostrils blow steam and he pushes himself off the ground. He whirls on his uncle. “I am tired of this exercise. I want to move on. I have mastered this!” His eyes are a narrowed gold.

Across his face is an angry red scar.

Iroh shakes his head sagely. “How can you expect to move on when you have mastered the basics, Prince Zuko? Do you want to control the fire, or do you want the fire to control you?”

The boy’s shoulders slump as he bows his head, looking at the iron of the ship beneath his feet. “I apologize, Uncle.”

Iroh smiles, a bit bitterly. “It is fine, Prince Zuko. Move into position.” He backs away and circles the prince, correcting his stance here and there.

When Zuko pushes his hands forward, fire explodes out of the air. It is a thousand shades of determination.

He breathes deeply.

Fire begins with the breath.

* * *

 

At the bow of his ship the exiled prince stands. The wind rustles his topknot, but he does not notice. His nose fills with the scent of smoke and in the background music plays.

Zuko’s hands clench and unclench on the railing.

_I will find the Avatar,_ he thinks determinedly. _I must restore my honor._

A warm hand suddenly rests upon his shoulder. “Prince Zuko,” Iroh says gently. “Would you like to join us for music night?”

The boy shrugs off his uncle’s hand. “No,” he says coldly. “Leave me.”

Iroh watches with sad eyes. _It will not make you happy_ , he thinks.

But he says nothing.

* * *

 

Iroh is not Zuko’s father.

But sometimes Zuko wishes he was.


End file.
